JP3308731B2 - Square connector socket - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a socket for a rectangular connector, and more particularly, to a method for easily and accurately regulating the position of a terminal on a printed circuit board and assembling an arrangement state of a plurality of terminals. The present invention relates to a rectangular connector socket that can be easily identified at times.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a rectangular connector socket, the rear ends of a plurality of elongated contact pieces (hereinafter referred to as terminals) arranged in parallel to make contact with the contact pieces of a plug are aligned with holes in a printed circuit board. There is known a terminal in which a terminal which has been bent at 90 ° in advance is fixed to a housing, or a terminal after which the terminal is fixed to the housing is bent at 90 ° using an adjusting jig.

When the terminal is bent at 90 degrees as described above, as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 3-79175, "Connector", when the entire terminal is covered with a shield case for shielding, the shield case is reduced in size. Therefore, there is an advantage that the socket can be downsized.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional rectangular connector socket, in the system in which the terminals bent at 90 ° in advance are fixed to the housing, the tips of the individual terminals are not uniform due to deformation or the like. There was an assembly problem that the terminal accuracy was poor and the terminal could not be easily inserted into the printed circuit board hole.

Further, in the method in which the terminal is fixed to the housing and then bent with an adjusting jig, the operation of the jig is troublesome, and when it is worn, the positional accuracy of the terminal is reduced. There was a problem.

Further, when assembling the divided housings, the plug contacts are accommodated in the housing in which the terminals are incorporated, and the arrangement state of the plug contacts cannot be visually checked at the time of assembling. There was a problem of leprosy.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a simple, short, and accurate position control of a terminal on a printed circuit board side without using a tool when assembling a socket. An object of the present invention is to provide a small-sized rectangular connector socket having a large number of such terminals at a low cost.

[0008]

Means for Solving the Problems] To solve the above problems, a socket corner connector according to the present invention, (1) absolute
Terminal position at a predetermined position formed in a rectangular cylindrical shape of the edge
A first housing provided with a regulating slit;
Metal plate covering the top, left and right sides, and rear of the housing
Outer shield case formed of: and the first housing
The insulator is formed in a rectangular cylindrical shape so as to be in contact with the inner surface of the
2 and the inner surface of the second housing
Inside a metal rectangular tube
Shield case and multiple bullets bent at a predetermined angle
A conductive wire comprising: a conductive wire;
After inserting and fixing the inner shield case to the housing,
Terminal position regulation provided on the first housing
90 ° fixed to the second housing
The elastic conductive wire in an aligned state bent at the above angle
While guiding the terminal of
Inserting the housing into the first housing
Is to assemble more.

(2) The first housing and the second housing
The second housing inserted from the rear of the first housing
And a plug insertion space surrounded by the second housing.
Fixed to the second housing so as to protrude from behind.
A flat insulating plate and a flat surface of the insulating flat plate.
Arranged in rows and pulled out to the rear outside of the second housing
A plurality of the terminals and the first housing
The terminating member provided at the terminal and engaged with the rear end of each terminal.
A slit for regulating the null position, and the terminal
Before assembly, bend at an angle of 90 ° or more.
When standing, guide the terminal through the slit
While connecting the second housing to the first housing.
The rectangular connector socket according to (1), wherein the socket is assembled by being pushed in from behind . (3) The terminal is a strip-shaped conductive contact piece having elasticity.
Characterized in that the width of the rear part is reduced
The socket of the rectangular connector according to (1) or (2). (4) After bending the terminal above 90 °,
Characterized by being inserted into and fixed to the second housing.
(1), (2) or (3)
Kett. (5) The terminal is fixed to the second housing.
After being bent at 90 ° or more
(1), (2) or (3)
Kett.

(7) A first insulating cylinder formed in a rectangular tube shape
A housing, the first housing formed in a rectangular cylindrical shape;
A second housing inserted and fitted into the housing, and the second housing;
It is placed at a predetermined position inside the housing and formed in a flat plate shape
And a terminal that engages the terminal on its upper and lower surfaces.
And an insulating flat plate provided with
When the housing is fitted with the second housing,
The front end of the terminal insertion groove of the edge flat plate portion is the first housing.
A second housing located behind the front end face of the jing and
Characterized in that it is located forward of the front end face of the
Connector socket. (8) First housing formed in a rectangular cylindrical shape of an insulator
And an upper surface, left and right surfaces, and a rear surface of the first housing.
Outer shield case made of a metal plate that covers
And fitted and inserted into the first housing.
2 and the inner surface of the second housing
Inside a metal rectangular tube
A shield case and a predetermined position inside the second housing.
Placed on top of each other and formed in the shape of a flat plate, and its upper and lower surfaces
Insulation with terminal insertion groove to engage terminal
It consists of a flat plate, when fitted with the first housing and the second housing, and the terminal insertion groove front end portion of the insulating flat plate portion is located behind the front end surface of the first housing A socket for a rectangular connector, which is located forward of a front end surface of a second housing.

[0011]

The socket of the rectangular connector having the above basic structure operates as follows. The socket accommodates a connection portion with the plug in first and second double housings. After each housing is fabricated separately, the socket is assembled by housing the second housing within the first housing.

The terminal of the elastic conductive wire which contacts the plug is fixed to the second housing. This terminal is 9
Bend at an angle of 0 ° or more. This bending work is the second
It may be before or after fixing the terminal to the housing.

On the other hand, the first housing is provided with a terminal position regulating slit at a position corresponding to the terminal. Specifically, when the terminal is bent downward behind the second housing, a slit is cut forward from the rear end of the lower plate of the first housing.

The socket is assembled by inserting the second housing into the first housing. At this time, the terminal and the slit for regulating the position of the terminal naturally engage with each other.

Therefore, when the second housing is inserted into the first housing while guiding the terminal through the terminal position regulating slit, the terminal is easily and accurately aligned and fixed at the end point of the slit by its elasticity.

More specifically, the first housing is formed in an insulating tubular shape, the second housing is formed in an insulating box shape, and a rectangular plug insertion surrounded by the second housing is formed. The flat plate of the insulator protrudes from the back of the space for
A plurality of terminals are arranged and fixed parallel to each other on the surface of the flat plate. In this case, the rear part of the terminal extends outside through the rear part of the second housing.

Therefore, when the rear portion of the terminal protruding from the second housing is engaged with the slit for regulating the terminal position of the first housing and the second housing is pushed into the first housing, the terminal is initially It is guided by the slit at a bend angle of 90 ° or more and proceeds without resistance, but when the second housing further advances into the first housing,
The rear end of the terminal abuts the end of the slit and is stopped there.

However, since the movement of the second housing is further continued, the terminal exhibits resistance due to its elasticity. However, when this resistance is overcome and the second housing is further pushed, a portion of the terminal before the bending point of the terminal is bent. Is the second
And the rear part from the bending point rotates about the end point of the slit as a fulcrum.

As a result, the angle at the bending point necessarily decreases, and when the second housing is completely housed in the first housing, the bending angle of the terminal is completely 90 °. Finally, the second housing is fixed to the first housing by a stopper, at which time the tip of the terminal matches the position of the hole in the printed circuit board.

As described above, the terminal is configured to engage with the position regulating slit and to move forward by being guided by this slit only by inserting the second housing into the first housing. Even if the angle of each of the terminals is not aligned before assembly, just push in the second housing without any adjustment and after assembly all terminals are positioned with high precision in the holes of the printed circuit board become.

Each of the first housing, the second housing, and the terminal has a simple structure, is easy to manufacture, and can be manufactured at low cost. Further, assembling can be performed simply, reliably, and in a short time as described above, so that the manufacturing process of the connector is made more efficient and cost is reduced.

The plug contact portion of the terminal
With the structure protruding from the front end of the housing, it is possible to visually confirm the arrangement state of the terminals during assembly.

[0023]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which the socket of the rectangular connector according to the present invention is applied to a double shielded connector will be described below.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, a main housing 1 as the first housing and a connector as the second housing housed in the main housing 1 are shown. A housing 2, an inner shield case 3 made of a conductive plate housed in the connector housing 2, and a plug contact portion provided in the middle of a plug insertion space surrounded by the inner shield case 3 so as to contact the plug. 4 and an outer shield case 5 formed of a conductive plate so as to cover the main housing 1. The respective configurations will be described below in the order of [1] Main housing 1 [2] Connector housing 2 [3] Inner shield case 3 [4] Plug contact part 4 [5] Outer shield case 5 [6] Socket assembly .

[1] Main Housing 1 The main housing 1 is formed in a connector assembly integrally formed of an insulator together with the housings of other connectors. It comprises a frame portion 7 for locking the shield frame 5 and a tubular portion 8 having a rectangular tubular shape.

The opening 6 is a plug insertion opening, and its inner surface forms a plug insertion space together with the inner surface of the inner shield case 3 housed in the connector housing 2.

The frame 7 locks the front edge of the outer shield case 5 that covers the outside of the cylindrical portion 8.

The cylindrical portion 8 is formed in a rectangular cylindrical shape, and the size thereof is such that the connector housing 2 is smoothly slid from the rear to be housed. A groove 10 is provided in the cylindrical portion 8 in the front-rear direction. The groove 10 has a role of providing the cylindrical portion 8 with a certain degree of flexibility and fixing the connector housing 2 by engaging with a projection 19 of the connector housing 2 described later.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a plurality of terminal position regulating slits 11, which are a feature of the present invention, are provided at the rear edge of the lower plate 8a forming the cylindrical portion 8. The slits 11 for regulating the terminal positions have deep slits 11a and shallow slits 11b of substantially the same width alternately arranged in a staggered manner. As described later, when the connector housing 2 is inserted into the main housing 1, the slits 11a are shallow. Slit 11b
Engages with the upper terminal 12, and the deep slit 11a engages with the lower terminal 13 to align terminals facing in different directions in the same direction.

[2] Connector Housing 2 As shown in FIGS. 1, 3 and 4, the connector housing 2 is formed in a rectangular cylindrical housing having an opening on one surface of an insulator. The housing 1 is formed in a size that can be slid and fitted into the inner surface of the cylindrical portion 8. Inside the tip protrudes from the opening surface,
In addition, an insulating plate 24 of the plug contact portion 4 arranged in parallel with the longitudinal direction is integrally formed, and a through hole 14a through which an upper terminal 12 and a lower terminal 13 of the plug contact portion 4 described later penetrate, 14b, the opening side is the front side, and the through hole 14b is provided.
The a and 14b sides are rear. In addition, the plug contact part 4
Will be described later.

As shown in FIG. 3, slits 17 having a predetermined length in the front-rear direction are provided between both ends of the lower plate 15 of the connector housing 2 and the left and right side plates 16. The slits 17 are for guiding the ground terminals 18 of the inner shield case 3 during assembly.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 1, 3 and 4,
Projections 19 are provided on the upper and lower surfaces of the connector housing 2. When the connector housing 2 is inserted into the cylindrical portion 8 of the main housing 1, the projection 19 pushes and expands the rear portion of the cylindrical portion 8. After the connector housing 2 is completely housed in the main housing 1, the groove 19 of the main housing 1 is formed. 10 (see FIG. 5).

[3] Inner Shield Case 3 The inner shield case 3 is integrally formed of a metal plate as shown in FIG. 3 into a rectangular cylindrical shape. The size of the inner shield case 3 is formed such that it can be slid and inserted into the inner surface of the connector housing 2.

The inner shield case 3 has grounding terminals 18 at the lower rear ends of the left and right side plates. When the inner shield case 3 is inserted into the connector housing 2, the ground terminals 18, 18 are inserted from the entrances of the slits 17, 17 of the connector housing 2, and the inner shield case 3 is inserted.
Pressing backwards, the ground terminals 18
The inner shield case 3 is smoothly and easily accommodated in the connector housing 2 by being guided backward by the guides 7 and 17.

The front ends of the upper plate and the lower plate of the inner shield case 3 are outwardly bent at right angles by a width corresponding to the thickness of the upper plate and the lower plate of the connector housing 2 so that the flange portions 20 and 21 are bent. To form This collar 2
When the connector housing 2 containing the inner shield case 3 is inserted into the main housing 1, the inner shield case 3 is sandwiched between the rear end of the opening 6 of the main housing 1 and the front end of the connector housing 2. Performs the function of fixing.

As shown in FIG. 3, the upper plate, the lower plate, and the right and left side plates of the inner shield case 3 have contact pieces 22a, 22b, 2
2c, 22d and half-lock portions 22e, 22f are provided, and the joining surfaces of the upper plate, the lower plate, and the left and right side plates are engaged and locked by stopper portions 22g.

Further, although not shown, the rear portion of the inner shield case 3 is narrowed from the upper, lower, left and right sides, leaving an opening of a minimum size for the plug contact portion 4 to pass through. Have improved.

[4] Plug Contact Portion 4 The plug contact portion 4 formed in the connector housing 2 is formed by arranging a plurality of elongated conductive contact pieces on a plane in parallel with each other. The corresponding contact pieces come into contact with each other by being inserted into the socket in the length direction (the front-back direction) of the piece.

The plug contact portion 4 includes a planar insulating plate 24 integrally formed in the connector housing 2, an upper terminal through-hole 14a provided at a predetermined interval in the upper and lower bases of the insulating plate 24, and a lower insulating plate 24. And a terminal through-hole 14b.

Upper terminal 12 and lower terminal 13
Are made of strip-shaped, slightly elastic metal contacts, and are manufactured by narrowing the rear of each, or by connecting a thin and elastic wire to the rear of the strip-shaped contacts. The rear ends of the terminals 12, 13 are formed in a staggered shape. In this case, the upper terminal 12
Is longer than the lower terminal 13. This is because when the upper terminal 12 and the lower terminal 13 are respectively bent, the rear ends thereof are aligned.

Further, each of the terminals 12 and 13 is provided with a cut-and-raised stopper 25. The stopper 25 engages with the rear inner surface of the connector housing 2 when the stopper 25 is inserted into the through holes 14a and 14b.
13 is fixed.

On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the insulating plate 24 protrudes from the opening end 2a of the connector housing 2 and, when assembled, the opening 6 of the main housing 1.
The connector has a structure in which at least a tip portion of the terminal protrudes from an opening end 2 a of the connector housing 2.

As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG.
4 has a structure in which a plurality of parallel grooves 24a for fitting the upper terminal 12 and the lower terminal 13 are provided on the upper and lower surfaces. At the free end side of each groove 24a, an engaging portion 24b that engages and locks the distal end portion of the terminal 12,13.
Is provided.

To assemble the plug contact portion 4 having such a structure, the upper terminal 12 and the lower terminal 13 are passed through the through holes 14a and 14b and fitted into the grooves 24a on the upper and lower surfaces of the insulating plate 24. The distal ends of the terminals 12 and 13 are inserted into and engaged with the engaging portions 24b provided at the distal ends of the grooves 24a. Therefore, the terminals 12 and 13 mounted on the insulating plate 24 have a structure capable of preventing the terminals 12 and 13 from jumping out of the groove 24a or turning over.

On the other hand, since the rear ends of the terminals 12, 13 at the rear of the connector housing 2 are staggered, they are bent forward at an angle of 90 ° or more. For this purpose, it is optional to fix the terminals 12, 13 previously bent at an angle of 90 ° or more to the connector housing 2 as described above or to fix the terminals 12, 13 to the connector housing 2 before bending. Also, it is not necessary that all the terminals 12, 13 bend to an accurate angle.

[5] Outer Shield Case 5 The outer shield case 5 is made of a metal plate as shown in FIG. 5 so as to cover the upper surface, both left and right surfaces, and the rear portions of the terminals 12 and 13 of the main housing 1. It is integrally molded into a shape. At the front of the upper plate of the outer shield case 5 is provided a projection 9 which engages with a hole in the main housing 1.

Also, on the left and right side plates of the outer shield case 5,
A ground terminal 26 is provided at the lower end, and a stopper 27 that is cut and raised at the center is provided. When the outer shield case 5 is attached to the main housing 1, the ground terminal 26 slides while being guided by a slit provided in a lower plate of the main housing 1, and facilitates positioning of the outer shield case 5 in the left-right direction.

The stopper 27 is connected to the outer shield case 5.
Has a function of fixing the outer shield case 5 so that it does not move in the front-rear direction after being attached to the main housing 1.

[6] Assembling of Socket A socket is assembled as described below using the main housing 1, the connector housing 2 in which the plug contact portion 4 is incorporated, the inner shield case 3, and the outer shield case 5.

First, the terminals 12, 13 are inserted into the plug contact portion 4 from the rear through holes 14a, 14b,
Terminals 12 and 13 are provided. The state of the terminals 12 and 13 at this time is bent by 90 ° or more as shown by dotted lines (12A and 13A) in FIG.

Next, as shown in FIG.
2 and 13 are connected to the inner shield case 3 and the ground terminal 1
8 is inserted while being guided by the slit 17. When the inner shield case 3 is completely housed in the connector housing 2, the flanges 20 and 21 of the inner shield case 3 come into contact with the front edge of the connector housing 2.

Next, as shown in FIG. 4, the connector housing 2 accommodating the inner shield case 3 is guided from behind the cylindrical portion 8 of the main housing 1 by the slit 8b provided in the main housing 1 to guide the ground terminal 18. Insert by At this time, since the terminals 12 and 13 disposed on the insulating plate 24 are disposed so as to protrude from the opening surface of the connector housing 2, the terminals 12 and 13 can be easily visually inspected for missing parts, defective placement, and the like. After the distinction is made, it can be inserted into the main housing 1.

When the connector housing 2 is inserted into the main housing 1, the terminals 12 and 13 come into contact with the end points of the deep slit 11a and the shallow slit 11b of the terminal position regulating slit 11. However, the connector housing 2 is further advanced with the contacted terminal portion stopped at that point.

Then, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 5, the rear ends of the terminals 12 and 13 rotate in a state of contacting the deep slit 11a and the shallow slit 11b of the terminal position regulating slit 11. . In this case, the user feels the resistance due to the elasticity of the terminals 12 and 13.
The bending angle of 13 becomes smaller, and when the connector housing 2 is finally completely housed in the main housing 1, the terminals 12, 13 are all aligned and fixed at an angle of 90 °. That is, as shown in FIG. 1, the rear end side of the lower terminal 13 aligned at 90 ° and the rear end side of the upper terminal 12 are arranged at an interval H.
Assembled just apart.

Finally, the outer shield case 5 is attached to the outside of the main housing 1 by engaging the ground terminal 26 with the slit 8c of the main housing 1 and sliding the outer shield case 5 to complete the assembly of the socket.

Thus, the plurality of terminals 12, 1
3, the alignment of the front end portions of each of the terminals 3 and 13 can be visually confirmed accurately, and the rear end portions of the terminals 12, 13 can be automatically aligned in a certain direction during assembly, so that assembly can be simplified. In addition, the structure is such that defective products such as missing parts can be largely eliminated.

[0057]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The socket of the rectangular connector having a large number of terminals has two inner and outer housings, and the elastic terminal is fixed to one housing, the rear portion is bent at least 90 °, and the other housing is engaged with the terminal. A terminal position regulating slit is provided, and assembly is performed by inserting one housing into the other housing while regulating the position of the terminal with the terminal position regulating slit. And therefore the manufacturing efficiency of the connector is improved.

In addition, by making the connection tip portion of the plug contact portion protrude at least from the end of the opening surface of the connector housing, the engaged and locked state of the terminal can be confirmed visually during assembly. It becomes very easy to remove defective and missing parts.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a socket of a rectangular connector according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the socket.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the socket.

FIG. 4 is a rear perspective view of a main housing and a connector housing of the socket.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of a main part of a slit for regulating a terminal position of the main housing.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Main housing (1st housing) 2 Connector housing (2nd housing) 3 Inner shield case 4 Plug contact part 5 Outer shield case 6 Mouth part of main housing 1 Frame part 8 Tube part 8a Lower plate 8b, 8c Slit 9, 14, 19 Projection 10 Groove 11 Terminal position regulating slit 11a Deep slit 11b Shallow slit 12 Upper terminal 13 Lower terminal 14 Rear hole of connector housing 2 15 Lower plate of connector housing 2 16 Side plate of connector housing 2 17 Slit 18, 26 ground terminal 20, 21 flange 24 insulating plate 24a groove 24b engaging part 25, 27 stopper

Claims (8)

(57) [Claims] 1. A predetermined position formed in a rectangular cylindrical shape of an insulator.
First housing with terminal position regulating slit
And the upper surface, the left and right surfaces of the first housing, and
An outer shield case made of a metal plate covering the rear
A rectangular tube made of an insulator so as to contact an inner surface of the first housing;
A second housing formed in the shape of a circle and the second housing
Metal tube that slides into the inner surface of the ring
Bent at a predetermined angle with the inner shield case
And a plurality of elastic conductive wires.
And insert the inner shield case into the second housing.
After setting, the terminal provided in the first housing
The slit for regulating the null position is fixed to the second housing.
Before the alignment state, which is defined and bent at an angle of 90 ° or more
While controlling the position by guiding the terminal of the elastic conductive wire
Then, insert the second housing into the first housing.
Square connector characterized by being assembled by inserting
Kuta socket. 2. The first housing and the first housing.
Said second housing inserted from behind the jing,
Backward into the plug insertion space surrounded by the second housing
Fixed to the second housing so as to protrude therefrom.
An insulating plane plate, and arranged in parallel with each other on the surface of the insulating plane plate
The second housing is pulled out to the rear outside of the second housing.
A number of said terminals and said first housing
The terminal positions engaging the rear end of each terminal
The terminal is folded at an angle of 90 ° or more before assembly.
The terminal is bent during assembly.
The second housing is guided by the
Assembled by pushing in from the back of the housing 1
The socket for a rectangular connector according to claim 1, wherein
To 3. The terminal according to claim 1 , wherein the terminal has an elastic strip shape.
It is characterized in that the width of the rear part of the conductive contact piece is reduced.
The socket of the rectangular connector according to claim 1 or 2,
To 4. The terminal is bent at least 90 °.
After inserting, it is inserted and fixed in the second housing.
Rectangular connector of source according to claim 1, 2 or 3,
Kett. 5. The terminal according to claim 2, wherein the terminal is the second housing.
It can be bent to more than 90 ° after fixing to
The source of the rectangular connector according to claim 1, 2 or 3.
Kett. 6. A predetermined position formed in a rectangular cylindrical shape of an insulator.
First housing with terminal position regulating slit
And insulated to contact the inner surface of the first housing.
A second housing formed in a rectangular tubular shape of the body, and a predetermined angle
Socket consisting of a plurality of elastic conductive wires
And a terminal position regulation provided in the first housing.
90 ° fixed to the second housing
The elastic conductive wire in an aligned state bent at the above angle
While guiding the terminal of
Inserting the housing into the first housing
Socket of square connector characterized by more assembling
G. 7. A first housing formed in a rectangular cylindrical shape of an insulator.
Jing and a first housing formed in a rectangular cylindrical shape
A second housing inserted and fitted in the second housing;
Arranged at a predetermined position inside the ring and formed in a flat plate shape,
A terminal insert that engages the terminal on its upper and lower surfaces
The first housing comprises an insulating flat plate provided with a groove.
When the ring and the second housing are fitted, the insulating flat
The front end of the terminal insertion groove of the face plate is the first housing.
Rearward of the front end face of the housing and of the second housing.
Square connector characterized by being located forward of the front end face
Kuta socket. 8. A first housing formed in a rectangular cylindrical shape of an insulator.
Jing, the upper surface of the first housing, the left and right surfaces, and
And an outer shield case made of a metal plate
Formed into a cylindrical shape and inserted and fitted into the first housing
A second housing and an inner surface of the second housing
It is formed into a metal rectangular tube that slides into
Inner shield case and the inside of the second housing.
It is arranged at a predetermined position and formed in a flat plate shape,
And a terminal insertion groove for engaging the terminal
And the first housing and the second housing are fitted with each other.
Sometimes, the front end of the terminal insertion groove of the insulating flat plate portion is
The first housing is located rearward of the front end face and
2 is located forward of the front end face of the housing.
This is a square connector socket.